


Chance

by catcusxx



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Chance Meetings, F/M, comical
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-15
Updated: 2019-04-15
Packaged: 2020-01-13 15:27:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18471751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catcusxx/pseuds/catcusxx
Summary: There were times when Roy wished that he could just suck it up and join the young justice team. Times like when he was sitting on a cramped subway, sweating after trying to capture Cheshire for an hour until she'd finally given him the slip.There were times when Jade wished that her father would buy her a car for her birthday instead of swords or heels with knives in the bottom (highly impractical). Just a small car so she could park it in creepy alley-ways, or maybe, she thought as she squeezed into a space beside a guy her age and an old woman with a bag of peacock feathers, maybe a motorbike.





	Chance

There were times when Roy wished that he could just suck it up and join the young justice team. Times like when he was sitting on a cramped subway, sweating after trying to capture Cheshire for an hour until she'd finally given him the slip.  
There were times when Jade wished that her father would buy her a car for her birthday instead of swords or heels with knives in the bottom (highly impractical). Just a small car so she could park it in creepy alley-ways, or maybe, she thought as she squeezed into a space beside a guy her age and an old woman with a bag of peacock feathers, maybe a motorbike.  
The guy smelt strongly. Maybe he was just back from the gym; he had the muscles.  
Roy knew that he smelt. He wasn't from another planet, he couldn't fly, and so he sweated when he engaged in intense physical activity, such as chasing someone over rooftops for two hours.  
There's an asshole on every train and if Roy had known that Cheshire sat beside him he would have thought he knew who it was. Instead it was the dude who approached her who he glared at.  
"Hey beautiful, going anywhere tonight?" This sounded rather intimidating when coming from a burly man in his thirties.  
Too bad he was speaking to a villain who could butcher him in her sleep. Unfortunately, on a crowded train, this was not an option. So Jade looked up at the man, not bothering to take out an earplug.  
"Home," she said, completely disinterested.  
She could have thought up some sassy reply, but fighting Red Arrow was more exhausting than she'd like to admit. The guy was fast, and for someone who used long range weapons, he was exceptionally good at close combat. Or just good and close combat full stop.  
The man guffawed. "My place or yours?" The lady with the peacock feathers looked up, every feather quivering. Jade made to slide her phone away, pausing her music. She liked to think of herself as calm and logical, just not after a long day trying to put a super-hero-in-training out of action. Then Roy spoke.  
"Leave her alone." He said.  
Although he had to tilt his head up to look at the man, he was no less intimidating. If Jade had known he was Red Arrow she might've said he looked pathetic, a sparrow puffing out its feathers, but here she sensed a change in the tense atmosphere of the carriage. She relaxed back into her seat. He backed off with a few muttered slurs.  
Roy glanced at the young woman beside him. She had wild black hair which she somehow made look good, and dark eyes.  
"I can defend myself thanks," she said. It was not a defensive statement, she spoke like it was fact and there was something about her which caused Roy to believe this.  
"Not that you should have to. I mean - dudes like him should just mind their own business." Roy said.  
Jade regarded him, head tilted to one side. To Roy the gesture was familiar but not overtly so. Like maybe he'd passed this girl in the street's a couple times or something.  
And this, this became just another chance encounter that neither of them really should have remembered. Except Jade thought that even if she didn't need the help to fend off some creepy guy, it was nice to have someone who cared with no ulterior motive.  
(She thought of her father, and how maybe if she convinced him a motorbike would further his own objective he might buy her one.)  
And Roy saw Jade in his minds eye, dressed in black, combat boots, hair a wild halo around her face. He didn't know her name, but the way she spoke intrigued him and he was almost tempted to take the subway more often.  
-  
And then one chance encounter became two, for Roy at least. The team was at the scene of another attack and it went without saying that Cheshire and her father were the culprits. Roy was covering the team, without their knowledge, of course. It was just as well they weren't relying on him because he glimpsed wild dark hair disappearing below him, hair that could only belong to one person. He hooked his bow over his back before leaping down to follow.  
Jade had taken off her mask and was leaving the building. She had 'burrowed' a motorbike with every intention of keeping it, and so she didn't want it being blown up as she made her escape. When she heard footsteps behind her, loud on the tiled floors despite rubber shoes, she ducked neatly behind a corner. She waited until the footsteps were almost on her before darting out. A second too late she realised that she was not in her mask, and she was facing Red Arrow, who she really couldn't be bothered dealing with - not when they'd been at stalemate for so long. Instead of landing neatly and making to slice at him, Jade let herself skid into him.  
His arms shot up to catch her.  
"You're not-" he begun before she interrupted.  
"There's a-a person! In a white mask!" She said, and then looked at his face and backing away dramatically.  
"What did they look like?" He asked, his voice calm.  
Jade fought back a laugh. This whole situation appealed to her sense of humour.  
"They had long black hair, and - and the mask was red and white. They moved like a cat." She said.  
She expected Red Arrow to rush off to the direction she pointed, but she'd forgotten one key thing; he was a superhero. And so he took a step towards her.  
"Mind if I take you somewhere safe?" He asked.  
"My motorbike's outside," Jade said, making to go get it.  
Roy was perplexed. Her personality didn't fit with the girl he'd met the other night, yet there was no mistaking who it was. She was wearing almost identical clothing. And so Roy brought her outside and watched as she motored away. Then he begun his futile search for Cheshire.  
Jade was kicking herself internally. She wasn't sure she could risk using the motorbike now that a hero had seen her civilian form with it. It was a very distinctive model; Jade had watched it for several days before finally taking it.  
She did not feel grateful to Red Arrow although the situation was very like the subway the other night; both times she had not needed his help and yet both times he gave it freely. But this time, he did only what was expected of a hero. Jade wondered what they were really all fighting for.  
-  
Roy always knew when it was Cheshire. He wasn't sure how, but at this point he just went with it.  
Jade wasn't sure how she managed to keep running into Red Arrow. He was always somewhere utterly inconvenient, and every time she fought him they were so evenly matched that eventually one of them would crawl away and she'd have to go back to her father and explain why she'd let him get away (again).  
"Tired?" She asked him as she used her last throwing blade.  
"You wish," he panted, dodging it.  
Jade darted in and Roy shot at her. She ducked and heard the arrow thump into the wall behind her.  
And so they continued, until Cheshire decided she wanted lunch and exited through the window. There was a café a few buildings down and she could use a cold drink. She smiled to herself as she stowed her mask away; she could hear Red Arrow cursing as he lost her.  
The thing with the two of them was that their similarities often outweighed their differences. Roy would be inherently good until, that is, something forced him to break his own rules. Jade believed herself to be inherently evil because she'd followed her father, reluctantly though she had.  
But ultimately, they were both stubborn as hell and, it turned out, and the same idea as to how to unwind after an hour or so chasing each other around an abandoned warehouse.  
And so Roy walked into the café and saw Jade, and Jade looked up when the bell into the café rung and saw Roy.  
Roy, who'd seen Jade twice and didn't yet know her name, was not about to let the opportunity slip away again. He waved at her and she smirked. He might've been surprised at the recognition in her eyes if he didn't remember her so well himself.  
"Hey - uh-"  
"Jade," Jade provided. "-Jade, mind if I sit?" He asked.  
What the hell, Jade figured, she could wind down with something cold as well as a good-looking guy. She took her bag off the seat beside her.  
"I remember you from the other day." Roy said.  
This should not have been stating the obvious, but Jade nodded. So they made small talk, and discovered just how many similarities they had.  
"You want my number?" Jade asked when Roy stood up.  
"Yeah, sure! We can go out some point of something." Roy said.  
Jade reached very carefully into her pocket, making sure to pull out her phone and not some of her remaining weapons. It was an easy mistake to make. They exchanged numbers. When Roy left, Jade changed his name to 'Client, Westing Rd.', just in case anyone was going through her phone. She hoped they didn't go through the messages; she doubted that Roy would speak anything like the people she worked with.  
They arranged to meet up on Friday, because Jade was attracted to him in a way which seemed to run deeper than their few chance encounters.  
Of course, with her luck, she met him much sooner that she expected him to.  
The stakes were higher this time. The building was burning and fire was an enemy to both sides. She wore her mask and was almost out when she glimpsed Roy. The sight of him might've shocked her more if she'd known anything about his civillian form.  
Roy had dumped his bow and quiver reluctantly in order to get through the air vents. The heat had been too much for him to keep his mask on. He made to reach for his quiver when he saw Cheshire but his hand found only empty air. He didn't know what he expected; his civillian form wasn't her enemy but he couldn't imagine her not attacking him. And then she held out her hand to help him up to the window.  
Ironically, Roy wondered if Jade had felt as mildly frustrated when he'd helped her that day on the train.  
He took her hand and she pulled him up with surprising ease. When he stood up she was already edging her way around the side of the building. She then leapt lightly over to the next ones. The heat from the fire seemed to follow them out, cutting through the cool night air.  
"Can you make it?" She asked him.  
Roy forced himself to look worriedly down at the gap before nodding. He probably made the leap across far too easily, but Cheshire was already scanning the rooftop.  
"No way out from here." She said, settling herself down to watch the blazing warehouse.  
Roy turned his eyes to it, hoping fervidly that M'gann had gotten out safely. He knew she wasn't good around heat.  
"Thanks." He said, and then he added curiously, "but... Aren't you one of the bad guys."  
Cheshire leaned back on the roof. "Well, yeah, I guess to people like you we are," she said, "but people aren't inherently good or bad, you know."  
Roy did. If he'd known exactly what he'd been created for then he'd know it even better.  
"So why do you do the things you do then?" He asked.  
"'Cause I don't have another choice." Cheshire said caustically, and then, "'cause it's fun."  
"How is working League of Shadows fun?" Roy asked.  
Jade realised his mistake even if Roy hadn't; no civillian should know what organization she was part of. And then it clicked; because no civillian should have been in that burning warehouse, and that attitude could only belong to Red Arrow. He'd always been more interesting than the other hero's, she reflected, and now, somehow, she knew him outside of the mask.  
This would be fun. She couldn't wait until Friday.  
(She couldn't wait until she could revel herself to him. Show him that he'd been this close to his enemy all along).


End file.
